"Writing is a skill, not a talent, and thus one's ability as a writer can be improved by thoughtful effort. The problem with some people is that they graduate college as good writers, experience early success on account of that, and thus never devote themselves diligently to the relentless quest for improvement that could make them great writers."

Saturday, March 28, 2009

By SmittyThe title may or may not be a jello-wrestling reference. Ambiguity, while death to computer code, flavors the humor nicely. Back on topic: Saturday's Full Metal Jacket Reach Around extravaganza is here.

Owning lesser mortals in a truly biblical fashion is Donald Douglas at American Power Blog. He jumped right on the Frum love train. He deftly played the Rule 5 card with some Scarlett goodness. He proffered a thoughtful roundup on Culture 11. He quoted this blog at length while mourning the demise of the BHO honeymoon. Quoting this blog remains your chief source of exquisite, yet free, good blog karma. (Almost as good as linking Little Miss Attila.) Professor Douglas's roundup of the Goldstein/Patterico dust-up made sense of something that wasn't previously clear (to your writer). His Sullivan roundup recalled the National Greatness post. He went above and beyond the call of Rule 5 by inviting Code Pink onto his page. Tough as nails, that one. The real amazement, must be saved for his tracking down this Rule 5 video of Stacy doing some turntable work for Lady GaGa. McCain is more than just your average karaoke king.

Dan Collins of Protein Wisdom fame was our second most energetic linker this past week. He connected this blog's notice of the lesbian thrashing of transgenders with that ABC bit about two gay men finding evidence in a bar that George W. Bush skipped out service with the Texas ANG or something Rather silly like that. His Director of Hillary: The Movie post cleverly used an unrelated Brooks fisking post to increase his Technorati link count. We admire those creatively pointing out the lack of rules around here. Dan gets the Greek mythology hat tip for the Icarus reference while noting the POTUS Poll Plunge Post amidst a lengthy Geithner roundup. Oh, yes, and the Patterico business. This seems blown over, thankfully. This fine post by Serr8d, a frequent commenter here, crept in for reasons that are obscure. Nice title, Serr8d, but remember this about liberals: an American anus admires assonance als alliteration.

Lance, our primitive troglodyte pundit, starts off with a proper homage to the Rules in his review of the AIG "Outta beer: outta here" letter. He ventures onto some thin ice here putting ToM's name in the title (good) and then opining that he needs a new hobby (not so much). I hear that trogs regenerate. He does recover nicely with the Rule 5-age, revealing that Bruce Willis is violating the half-your-age-plus-seven rule (or does that only apply when you're under 50?). He goes for Rule 3 on the Geithner WSJ editorial. Dude, at least throw in some YouTube-age, a'ight? ;). He did have a nice Rule 5 offering, so there is obviously hope.

Monique remains a source of excellent blogging. Hope her health improves. Especially in time for whenever the jello wrestling is set. She opted to allude to the teleprompter while reviewing the POTUS press conference. The Alabama condom post earned a lengthy, turgid remembrance.

The Nutty One launched with the teleprompter, as did so many this week. Would that it could be merely funny. Led to the noted poll dip. Seymour's FMJRA offering was a fine example of the genre. And the review of the Obamanoidspeak post "absolutely classic" is very warmly received.

The Griffon heaped a smallish helping of abuse on Rachel for moving to England. The Griffon merits an atta-boymythological-creature for his response to the tough love proffered by this blog. Those who can take it as well as dish it out are respected. May the fu belong to you!

Clever S.Logan wins an award for most updated post I've ever seen at 9 and counting. It's almost as if she's trying to cover up something. Could this post metastasize and form its own blog? Stay raptly attentive, but don't be a stalker. She does everything but link The Georgia Satellites in this post. And, of course she offered a heap of sympathy for the Griffon, whom I was very nearly close to beginning to think about starting to feel bad about having abused. Thanks for getting me off that hook, Suzanna. Note the splitting of the affection between the Troglopundit and the Griffon. Both gracious and wise, this one. Careful, men!

Cynthia, the jello wrestling referee, put in a plea for decorum, for all the match scheduling isn't complete yet. Even though she's a newly minted conservative, she finds it hard to grasp how Senator Specter misses the point on secret ballots. Or, to judge by her title, she may understand why all too well.

The neighborly Pundit and Pundette note RSM's reporting on David Horowitz. They briefly noted Specter's sudden recollection of the letter 'R'. They also had a linkfest, though they haven't quite reached the "volume of fire has an accuracy all its own" approach of, for example, this blog.

Bob offers up some armed Rule 5, followed by some Rule NaN* arm. I may need a break after this. My mind is bleeding.*Not a Number, for the non-JavaScript geeks in the crowd.

Fear and Loathing debates the bond market in a reasonable way, with a jolly Strangelove reference. FLG follows up here.

Mike in Fisherville noted the McAuliffe post, as well as last week's FMJRA post, which invites the question of how much circular reasoning it will take to cross the Groucho Marx horizon.

Craig at Pb'n'Au links to the Gonzo article at Taki. Maybe it's just because I'm nearly punch drunk enough for 60 Minutes, but this is worth a few extra bytes on the post:

The Other McCain has a post up that defends the execrable David Frum. Admittedly, he does so in the course of bashing David Brooks, but that is no excuse. That is the equivalent of praising gonorrhea while condemning syphilis.

David Wiegel at WI derided the Obama at 50/50 post. Here he summarizes RSM's Culture11 obituary:

"If you want to create a brand of conservatism that doesn’t yet exist, you have to do more than write columns and movie reviews." If you want to write columns and movie reviews, they have to be in the "liberals are awful and destroying freedom" mold.

Whereas I would say "Liberals begin from a flawed existential model; bogosity ensues."

The Pirate's Cove (and we can't have too much nautical nuance, mates) noted the teleprompter review. They also had some Rule 5-age. Send that in earlier to make the proper roundup!

And thus we reach the single digit locker

Somebody with the silly name 'Instapundit' linked the And the Bad News Is post. Terrible name for a blog. He'd better improve on that name if he ever wants to get any traffic. I'm just saying.

Steven Green, the Vodkapundit, linked the How to get a million hits... post, not knowing that Blogger was unappreciative of the higher-tech version, and we rolled it back. I will improve my fu. I'm good enough, smart...

If you missed Gahrie's Nolan link last Rule 5 Sunday, we have you covered.

Someone please track down Uncle Jimbo and the guy in the Blackfive video and slap them back to reality. They seem to think that the young Code Pinko’s Blackfive interviewed are “cute.” Let’s get this straight: for a conservative, there should be no such thing as a “Code Pink Cutie.”

I'll wait for RSM to pass the final judgment on this important controversy, but allow me to tilt the argument by reminding everyone that "who is pleased easily is pleased often".

Dad29 picked up the Baghdad Bob coverage. Must have been the in-depth, hard hitting research. One wonders how applicable to the POTUS are these words written for Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf by Jean-Pierre McGarrigle:

In an age of spin, al-Sahaf offers feeling and authenticity. His message is consistent -- unshakeable, in fact, no matter the evidence -- but he commands daily attention by his on-the-spot, invective-rich variations on the theme. His lunatic counterfactual art is more appealing than the banal awfulness of the Reliable Sources. He is a Method actor in a production that will close in a couple of days. He stands superior to truth.

Surely this blog should enshrine such an excellent review

Minimal Coverage notes the smirk on Stacy's face over the epic jello wrestling match, but goes the extra mile and offers a (possibly sacrilegious for Catholics) variation on the Beatles' Lady Madonna, the first verse of which we'll drop as a tease:

Lady Godiva, clothing at your feetI’ll be at the tea party we should meetProtesting money our Congress has spentThey’ve all forgotten who they represent

Environmental Republican noted the "Death of Newspapers" story in a Sixth Anniversary posting.

The Gay Conservative was equally appalled by the David F. Hamilton appointment.

Instaputz thought RSM was being ironic when he wrote this post. I don't know why the famous speedo picture was captioned "Fap fap fap" here, and I will protect my ignorance with vigor.

The heat generated by the debate with the Liberal Values blog, which was triggered by last week's 'opting for worse' rider, continues to be measurable by well-calibrated lab equipment. The response doesn't seem to apprehend the difference perceived on the right between a RINO and a CPAC attendee. A more full response is owed, but there are just a few links left to go here at the Full Monty.

This post culled from Technorati links. If you've been overlooked, request a shout so we can add to this glorious outing.Update:Jimmie has brought forward the problem that Technorati can be hit or miss. He offers righteous link-fu on conservative bloggers and Paris Hilton. This was all I could find for a quick check (he said, admitting he'd neglected to subscribe). Best wishes, Jimmie. Let's see if we can come up with a work around for the reach around.

3 comments:

Smitty, Technorati apparently shows me no love toward this blog whatsoever. Heck, I linked here just last night and that damnable site doesn't show it. Rest assured that whereever there is hot Rule 2 blogging action, I will be there!

Hit the tip jar, you ungrateful bastards!

Understand Liberalism

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